Chapter 11: The Beginning of A Magnetic Assault
A black 2022 Mercedes GL vehicle drove through the outskirts of New York, towards Westchester County. And, despite its previously torn apart appearance in the last chapter, Luke Blake had decided to purchase the rental for 3x its selling price, and had his AI assistant, OMNIS, spend two hours of the night to repair it.
As the strongest supercomputer on the planet, with all the resources necessary at its beck and call (i.e.; multiple augmented warehouses across the Bronx with multiple subterranean floors guarded by the Master's drones in both robotic and drone form), repairing a motor vehicle was child's play. Luke even commissioned a few upgrades to the vehicle, including invisible armoured plating strong enough to tank explosions. Missile signal disruptors, a kinetic force field array, a state of the art missile and railgun (kinetic pulse and artillery) system, turbo thrusters and a smart screen on the windshield, connected directly to OMNIS.
Inside this war machine of a self-driving car, Luke was alone with his thoughts. Dressed business casual in a blue button down, blue jeans and a pair of light brown-ish tan boots. He rode in the backseat, alone with his own mind as company.
'Crystal is currently leading the business in my stead though I don't doubt she'll leave me more work than I had when I left,' Luke thought to himself, with an internal sigh. 'Lucas has brought together the Defenders a lot earlier than in the MCU, but with the added addition of the Redline and Bucky as the 'White Wolf'. Lucas even managed to get Felicity Hardy to double agent the Hand for him at the promise of good wealth. It probably helped that he promised to not tell her boyfriend she stole a serum from Oscorp that gave her luck and probability-based powers as well as enhanced her cat-like reflexes, gave her enhanced stamina and agility, effectively creating her persona, 'Black Cat' much more a literal cat.
[Image Reference 1]:
[Image Reference 2]:
'In the comics, Black Cat was a thrill-seeking master thief who oftentimes betrayed her allies for personal gain, so one would be wise to expect betrayal from her under normal circumstances?' Luke thought to himself, privately, as OMNIS informed him they were 20 minutes from their destination.
Luke squinted. 'This isn't normal circumstances, though. Black Cat is an excellent asset for the Master, so I couldn't let her whims jeopardize her potential in the Master's eyes. And so I used Master's neuro-enhancer to implement an irreversible seed of admiration, loyalty and respect in Felicity towards Redline, cementing her loyalty to the cause, albeit, indirectly. I, of course, increased her feelings for Harry Osborn. I am not a good person, but I'm no monster.'
Luke was well aware that was basically villainous behavior, but he knew he was never meant to be a saint. He was meant to be a business man and absolute loyalty was good for business.
'Chris is in Russia, looking to find Sergei,' Luke thought. 'Based on OMNIS' report, Lewis' memories and the timeline itself, Kraven the Hunter has only been active for 6 years over a decade, which means canon events of the Kraven movie had already begun. The Prison arch has already occurred, but I don't doubt Chris' ability to adapt and get things done. I actually plan on making Chris the head of a task force soon, whenever key members are found of course. Goblin, Black Cat, the White Wolf, the Redline and Kraven… among others, will get to be the face of this task force. With the Master's plans, hopefully they go global.
'As for the drones, OMNIS has given them the ability to take on a human appearance, similar to the terminators, though much more effective, with a lot less bugs, bio-mechanical synthetic flesh that allows metal-detector passage without blaring alarms and A.I systems that adapt with a base OMNIS core programming foundation to adaptive reasoning tied to experience. In other words, they are the most advanced drones/androids on the planet.
'Our 16 warehouse facilities have a total of 1,200 each, with our 2 main major private warehouses having just over 3,000 of these drones on duty at all times — of these 5,000, only 2,000 each are in human form; the rest are patrol drones. Thank the Master we don't have to pay drones. That would have been inefficient.
'And with OMNIS producing and stockpiling 100s of these drones below each of the 16 warehouses of B.L.A.K.E H.T Industries daily, when the Chitauri decide to attack, the Bronx will be secure.'
A thought suddenly occurred to Luke
'Speaking of facilities, Crystal should be finished purchasing those plots of lands in Australia as well as the ones in Canada, Alaska, the Arctic, Antarctica, Nigeria and Kathmandu, Nepal. It took many weeks of robbi— I mean, kindly confiscating multiple crimelord tycoons of their money and assets to get enough money for these purchases, but, alas, their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
'Furthermore, there were a few other tasks I had given Crystal. Hopefully, she can get them finished… Well, of course she can. I have no reason to doubt her abilities. She has yet fail the Master — Or me, for that matter.'
"Master Luke, we have arrived," OMNIS's voice shook Luke from his musings.
Looking ahead as they passed the treeline, a sign said "Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters" and Luke saw the manor.
rom Luke's perspective, the outside of the manor looks almost unreal; the movies and comics don't do it justice. The stone façade rises clean and elegant against the sky, framed by endless green lawns and old trees. In front and around the lawn, various youths of all ages were doing morning activities, running around and messing around with one another. The manor itself looked like an old, but well-kept, Victorian Era mini-castle, with an almost semi-gothic feel to it.
Stepping out of the car, Luke noticed 6 individuals already waiting for him.
The first was the most beautifullest woman Luke had ever seen. With hair as white as snow, skin as dark as milk chocolate and caramel and eyes as blue as the sky on a stormless day. Dressed in a faded violet top with the shoulders exposed, a baggy pair of sweatpants and beaten up runner shoes, Ouroro Monroe was the pinnacle of beauty. She looked a mix of Halle Barry and Alexandria Shipp.
[Ouroro Monroe Reference Image]:
'Wow, she's even more beautiful in person,' Luke thought privately to himself — or he thought it was private (he wasn't concentrating) until he noticed Jean reacting to the thought by smiling briefly at Ouroro, whom looked at her once then at Luke, a brief tug on her lips. 'I forgot she was a telepath…' Luke thought, eyeing Jean with intrigue and a minuit bit of sheathed annoyance. 'I should have warded my mind before I arrived. It's alright, though. No time like the present.'
Doubling down on the task, Luke's mind became an impenetrable fortress — strong so much, in fact, both Xavier and Jean tilted their heads at him, clearly surprised by how they were so abruptly unable to read his thoughts.
Luke merely smirked in response, albeit privately, but the amusement in his eyes gave him away.
Jean was a no less attractive a woman, with red-orange hair, pale skin and blue eyes. She was dressed in a crimson top with a crimson overjacket and blue jeans with brown boots. She wasn't Ouroro, but that was ok, because she radiated a different kind of power. Where Storm radiated an electrically charged torrent of lightning, Jean's vibe was a fierce and ever-enduring flame. She looked like a mix of Sophie Turner & Famke Janssen.
[Jean Grey Reference Image]:
Rogue was a brunette, whose hair had a string of white in it. Dressed in her usual green and yellow suit with a black leather jacket over it, Anne Marie was one for unique tastes. Where Ouroro was lightning and Jean a flame, Anne held a much more subtle but no less vibrant personality. She looked like a mature, 26 year old version of Anna Paquin from the X-Men movies.
Similarly, Logan looked exactly like Hugh Jackman.
'I guess some people embody characters more literal than others,' Luke thought to himself, remembering how there was only ever one Wolverine actor and, as it turned out, that actor was born for the role.
Scott Summers looked to be a mix of James Marsden and Tye Sheridan, dressed in a red shirt, black leather jacket, blue jeans and men's ankle shoes.
[Scott Summers Reference Image]:
"Welcome, Le—" Professor X began, before squinting. "You are not Lewis."
This gave the group pause as both James and Scott stepped in front of Jean protectively. Jean and Rogue merely rolled their eyes at the men's antics. Ouroro looked at Luke assessingly. Charles merely looked curious.
"No, I'm not," Luke admitted. "I am his twin brother, Luke."
"I wasn't aware this Lewis guy had a twin, bub," Logan said, taking a hostile step forward. "We did our research and 'Luke Blake' never showed any results when looking into the bub named Lewis."
"To be fair, you wouldn't have known— None of you really, even you Professor," Luke said calmly to the squinting professor. "I awakened my telepathic powers before my brother as a baby, accidentally erasing myself from the minds of my parents. I thank the gods daily that my mutation allows me to survive with hardly any to no food, otherwise I wouldn't have made it past infancy."
This caused a collective silence to wash over the group. James (Logan) now seemed bored. Scott seemed sympathetic. Rogue looked like she would rather be anywhere else but there. Jean seemed concerned, and Charles and Ouroro seemed to be hesitantly assessing.
"I– I didn't know this," Xavier said at last, looking grim. "If I had known, I would've done something for you, child."
'To have erased oneself from everyone who would've — who should've — known of your existence…,' Charles thought privately. 'I am…ashamed I hadn't looked for the child before…'.
"It's alright. I survived. I had Lewis protecting me. And like I said, Professor, you wouldn't have known of my existence," Luke forced a smile, waving a dismissive hand. "My brother is currently a bit busy, however, I am more than enough for this meeting. We share a… twin link of sorts. My decision is effectively his."
'He doesn't hold it against anyone? What happened to him?' Ouroro thought to herself, privately approving of the man before her. 'What an honorable and mature individual…'.
This caused the mood to brighten a bit.
"Well, I know it's been delayed, but I officially welcome you, Luke Blake, to my school for the gifted," Charles Xavier gestured around at the dozens of different youths along the lawns and property of the manor. Some students seemed human but had a quiet energy to them that revealed them to be anything but. Many had diverse physical appearances that would've made it obvious they were mutants, while others had slightly more subtle traits than others; whiter skin, unique eyes, a tone just slightly off-shade in the hair or just a skin tone too tan. "Here, all are welcome, most especially mutants, but also regular humans too. This place is more than an academy. It is home, a new beginning—and a hope for the future of mutants and mankind, regardless of our differences. This is the idea of the world I want to form—for all mankind."
Sometime during the speech, Annie Marie and Logan had classes to teach, and Jean had her own class to teach. Supposedly, though Scott went with her, so Luke doubted the sincerity of her "class to teach" to be an actual class, and not time to hang out with Scott. Still, it was his business.
But that was fine with Luke, as the moment she walked away, he noticed she tried prying unsuccessfully at his mind. He wasn't too certain it wasn't intentional or an accident, but either way, it was unsuccessful. It didn't allow her entry, but that brief moment of mental contact allowed Luke to see her future:
He found himself witnessing Jean and Lewis holding hands in a park, with a large, bulbous bump in her belly. The park around them was serene, and Jean's laughter was infectious. Lewis looked happy and content before suddenly turning to Luke's direction, looking directly at Luke, surprised, briefly, before giving a nod, which Luke shared.
Then, Luke was back in his body and he realized only a split of a millisecond had passed in the present.
'What was that?' Luke shook his head, noting no one noticed his zoning, not even Jean or the Professor. 'Looks like the Master ends up with Jean… That's nice. Means Ouroro is fair game.'
"And this is my office. Shall we?," Charles ushered Luke and Ouroro, wheeling around to behind it as the two took their seats. On Luke's left, Ouroro leaned against the right side of the table, comfortable but alert.
"Now that we're finally here, let us begin. First matter of business: We've all seen your press conference, Luke. I must say, I am curious. How do you aim to achieve this?"
"I have already purchased a plot of land in Caledon, Ontario in Canada. It is approximately 10x the entire area of this manor and I have already issued the order to prepare for its building," Luke waved a hand dismissively, surprising both Ouroro and the old telepath. "I predict the building will begin within the next few days, after clearing the area, of course."
"And you're fully funding operations?" Ouroro asked clearly for clarification. "Alone? By yourself?"
"I am very self-sufficient, and quite adamant in being the sole owner of this university, Miss Monroe. I have been told I can be quite dominant in getting what I want," Luke winked flirtatiously at the 22-year-old, then smirked when the weather manipulator's cheeks turned a plum violet, turning away to gather herself. "I have everything planned already. The funding donations I receive from numerous world governments alone for my altruism is more than enough to cover the expenses. And as for the donations themselves, despite my not even asking for them, have no real usage to me—I don't truly need it. What better way to spend it then on a way to better the world around me? Connection and unity is everything to me, especially as a mutant myself."
"I remember reading about the device you invented," Ouroro exclaimed, genuinely interested. "Does it truly de-pollute and transmutate anything?"
"Ah, yes, my EnerGenesis Spheres," grinned Luke, pride and interest expressed through his eyes and grin. "Plastic. Oil. Waste. Anything within reason can be transmutated into renewable energy and harnessed to power more of the newer models. I had the idea of it looking at the physical state of the world growing up — Me and Lewis both… We wanted to make the world better."
"Wow, that's quite admirable, Luke, I'll admit it," Ouroro smiled, pleased by this. "I hope your ideas don't just stop at making more renewable energies and new species worth of trees."
"Of course not, Ouroro," smirked Luke. "I've got other ideas too. Some, however, are more suited to more appropriate settings."
This made Ouroro give an involuntary giggle, before she could stop herself, coughing in her fists to draw attention away from the violet blush on her face. Still, she couldn't hide the small smile.
'Gods, that's a beautiful smile,' Luke thought. 'No wonder they call her 'goddess.' I wonder how she'll feel about going on a date.'
"Cough"
A sudden cough reminded Luke that the two of them were with company, and that he had been paying all his attention solely to the goddess in the room.
"Should we not get back on topic?" asked the old man. "How exactly will this program affect my own academy's students? In the press, you mentioned the students of the University will be both humans and mutants be able to attend, meaning co-existence of some level will be required. How do you intend to reinforce such co-existences? Also, how far along are you to getting academic, governmental and other universities' support?"
"You don't have to worry about co-existence reinforcement nor university, academia or governmental support. These are already being gathered as we speak and a lofty majority of them are already being approved," Luke smirked assuredly. "As for your academy and students, it will be a life changer. For those accepted into the program, which will be few starting out (until proper conditions are met, of course), and graduating rom the university, I plan to hire the top 25% of these students every 7 years at my company, which have already begun both national and international expansion. For the mutants who don't make the cut, assistant Crystal is currently also in the process of brokering a deal with Worthington Industries and Frost International to hire at least 20% of them. I have more plans, but, currently, this is all I can reveal."
"Intriguing," was what Charles had to say, after sharing a look with Ouroro, before their discussion went on further.
All the while, Luke received an update from OMNIS about Crystal successfully acquiring a deal, unaware that things are about to get heated… or magnetically conundrumatic.
[Some Forest in Alaska]:
[Erik Lehnsherr POV]:
" 'We should have open arms to all sapiens, whether neo or homo, regardless of either'," the videos of the older 1990s era TV showed the feed of Lewis Blake's press conference on repeat, only serving to frustrate a certain "Master of Magnetism" even more.
It annoyed Erik Lehnsherr how a peace-loving greenie could garner such support for mutant-kind without himself being one nor without fighting for that support.
He turned off the TV by using his magnetic abilities. He stood at the planning table in a wooden hut, in a camp designed to remain hidden even from satellite, the governments and any foe he and his Brotherhood may have garnered with their escapades.
The table was one that was carved of unprocessed iron, showing the world map in surprisingly detailed and intricate detailing. It had cities, states and borderlines labelled and lit in a faint white glow.
And, around this table, were leading members of his brotherhood. From the familiar face of a very blue, questionably Mystique to his very own son and daughter, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver——or Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff.
There was the vile looking Toad and the villainous genius of an illusionist, Mastermind. Callisto—the one-eyed, dagger-wielding hunter and speedster, who can even sense the level and location of other mutants—and, of course, Exodus, or Bennet du Paris—an orange-skinned, almost holy-dressed Omega-level mutant and one of Erik's most devout followers.
"Are we beginning the meeting, Father?" Wanda asked once everyone was gathered.
"Yes, we are," Erik answered. "It is time."
"We are? It is? Yes! Finally!" Pietro rushed out, sounding excited as opposed to his previous bored-looking self — the transformation had caused both Wanda and Mystique to roll their eyes. Neither said anything, though, evidently used to this side of the speedster. "I thought it'd be forever before everyone arrived and you stopped looking over a recorded video of that altruistic scientist."
He whispered that last part. No one laughed.
"Pietro…" Wanda began.
"Enough. Now, let us start," Erik gestured to Mastermind to create an illusional projection of X-Mansion. "Our assault on the manor— its planning begins now."